THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
A family from Colville Lake recently escaped a fire in Fort Smith, but lost many of their belongings in the blaze that claimed their Aurora College housing.

Theresa and Wayne Kakfwi, as well as their month-old daughter Autumn, were among those who escaped a house fire in Fort Smith on Oct. 25. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

That's when the community of Fort Smith stepped up to the plate to help.

"Your spirits get lifted with the amount of people that come, and they tell you they're sorry and they want to help," said Theresa Kakfwi, the student who lived in the house with her family.

The fire occurred in the afternoon of Oct. 25.

Kakfwi was living in the bungalow on Field Street with her six children and a 15-year-old niece, and her husband was visiting from Colville Lake at the time of the fire.

Everyone was in the house except for her oldest daughter. Kakfwi said she was just about to get into the shower when she heard a young son running up the stairs from the basement.

"I never thought nothing until my little boy yelled, 'Dad, there's a fire, there's a fire,'" she recalled.

As she listened to her husband running down the stairs, she quickly got dressed and then heard her husband yell for everyone to get out of the house.

She then saw "a big, black cloud of smoke" coming up from the basement.

Kakfwi noted her eight-year-old son was playing in his room before the fire started.

"Everything looked fine," she said.

All the members of the family made it out of the house without injury.

Her husband, Wayne Kakfwi, had happened to arrive in Fort Smith the day before and was glad to be there to help his family get out of the burning house.

"When I went downstairs, the room was fully engulfed already," said Kakfwi, who is originally from Fort Good Hope and spent over 20 years on the fire department there, including about 18 years as fire chief.

The couple do not know what caused the fire.

"We can't figure it out," said Theresa.

As of Nov. 6, Aurora College had not heard anything from the Fire Marshal's Office on what may have caused the fire.

Theresa noted that, as the family rushed out of the house, she grabbed some items near the door, including keys to a van and wallets.

Once outside, she opened the doors to the van and the family got inside to keep warm.

"Just the way we were. No shoes, and in their pyjamas some of them."

The family lost many possessions to the fire, smoke and water damage - laptop computers, iPads, a desktop computer, televisions, clothes, sewing machines, a bed, toys, books, kitchenware, and more.

"It's all gone," said Theresa.

Wayne said that, since he had arrived just the day before, his packed bag and a fiddle was still by the door.

"Running out, it was right there, so I grabbed that and ran out," he said.

A briefcase with business documents for his Northbound Contractors Ltd. in Colville Lake was also close to the door and later recovered by firefighters.

After the fire, the family was moved to other college accommodations, and are now living across the street from where the fire occurred.

The Kakfwis' six children range in age from one month to 14 years.

The couple noted that the house suffered extensive damage, and they don't expect it to be liveable any time in the near future.

The Kakfwis have been overwhelmed by assistance from the community, which began with help from firefighters who brought family members to a store to get shoes, sweaters, jackets and other clothing.

And more help started to come from community residents.

"They were just bringing everything," noted Theresa. "I just had to go through and take what I wanted."

Wayne said the community came together "big time" to help his family,

"I was just overwhelmed," he said.

In a written statement, Aurora College president Jane Arychuk said everyone is thankful that the family was able to exit the house safely and that there were no injuries.

Arychuk also praised the community response and support.

"Situations such as these remind me why I am so proud to live in the North," she said.

"So many people immediately stepped up to help Theresa and her family, from the members of the Fort Smith Volunteer Fire Department, to the neighbours who took them in during the emergency. The Aurora College staff who helped the family get settled into a new unit by dinnertime the same day, and the fellow students and community members who came forward with donations of clothing, furniture, food, household items and cash."

Mayor Brad Brake also praised the big outpouring of support, including inmates at a correctional centre who donated $200 to Theresa and her family.

"It was a huge response. I would say that it's a Fort Smith response," said Brake, adding it says a lot about the community.

Theresa has been attending Aurora College in Fort Smith for almost five years, beginning in a heavy equipment course.

She then entered the Teacher Education Program and will be graduating in April with a Bachelor of Education degree.

She and her family had lived in the now fire-damaged house for about three years.

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